Common Thief
by bulletproof
Summary: What if Max caught Logan in her apartment during the Pilot? M/L. COMPLETE.
1. Common Thief

c o m m o n . t h i e f . . . by bulletproof

**c o m m o n . t h i e f**   
by bulletproof (bulletproof_android@yahoo.com)   
characters owned by cameron/eglee productions.   
my first dark angel fic 

PART 1 

"I need to talk to her." 

"I can't help you, man." 

Logan ran an exasperated hand through his hair and considered the man before him once more. He'd seen this kind before. Stubborn, unwilling and unhelpful as hell. He pulled a fifty out of his pocket. 

"How about her name and address?" 

* * * * * 

Finding the apartment wasn't hard. Predictable, really. Max Guevera lived in a block once considered your standard urban high-rise lot, housing small time executives and young middle-class families. Funny how a single moment, a single pulse, could change everything. 

Images of poverty confronted Logan on every street corner, every sidewalk. It hadn't been so long ago that chic cafes and bright shop-fronts lined the streets. Now they were just untouchable memories, outlandish fantasies from a time so out of reach. 

The door to her home didn't even have a lock on it. Or one that worked, at any rate. He pushed the old wooden door forwards and could feel his pulse quicken as her sanctuary was opened for him. 

Taking a gulp of the air that still held a trace of her lingering scent, Logan Cale stepped forward and invaded her home. 

* * * * * 

Max sighed as the honking of a car's horn behind her broke her from her reverie. 

She had been daydreaming about the same pair of blue eyes that had been haunting her all day. 

Mentally chastising herself, Max pedalled harder, passing her own neighbourhood only to stop abruptly at the sight of a figure in her window. 

Strange. Kendra wasn't due home for another couple of hours at least... 

* * * * * 

Max flung open the door just as the intruder was about to exit from it. 

She looked at his face and her breath caught as she recognised those same eyes, that same deep ocean of blue she'd almost drowned herself in last night. 

"See anything you like?" She quipped, her mouth moving faster than her brain. She did a quick visual check of his hands but found them empty. 

"Maybe." He returned cryptically. She could almost hear the workings of his mind as the underground cyber-journalist thought on his feet. 

Max's head snapped forward as her head cleared and she started to back him into the apartment, leaning into him in an interrogating manner, "What are you doing here?" 

"Returning the favour." he retreated, but wasn't intimidated. The still nameless man began strolling around her lounge area, fingering the paraphernalia that littered the room, "Nice set-up you got here." 

"Thanks." Max replied curtly before standing in front of him lightning fast and grasping his wrist, "*Don't* touch the bike." 

The man's fingers hovered over her Ninja, "A little edgy, aren't we?" 

He looked directly at her, their faces, their mouths so close, she could swear he could taste her cherry lip gloss. 

"What can I say?" Max retorted, almost against his lips, "Virtual strangers rifling through my stuff gets me a little touchy." 

Mr Eyes Only returned in a crooked half-smile, "Now you know how I feel." 

She shifted slightly, her leg coming into contact with an obtrusive bulge and she subtly wet her lips, "Do you have something in your pocket, or..." 

Her sentence trailed off as her fingers trailed past his hip and into the deep recesses of his pocket, finding a bottle-shaped object there. She pulled the small container free and froze. It was a bottle of her Tryptophan. 

"What are you doing with these?" She sneered as she retreated like a caged animal, "Who are you?" 

"Actually, I was here to ask the same of you. Never met anyone who survived a fifty storey fall before." 

"Guess I was lucky." 

"Or genetically engineered." 

Max's eyes snapped their attention at his infuriatingly placid features, "What do you know?" 

"That you have super-human capabilities, that you have incredibly low seratonin levels... and that you probably have a barcode at the back of your neck." 

Max's hand went of its own volition to touch that part of her skin that was permanently blackened by ink. 

She growled as she caught her own action, "Then you should probably also know that I can snap your neck before you take your next breath." 

"No doubt about it." He replied in the skip of a heartbeat. "It's why I came to you." 

The caged beast cocked her head, but eyes remained no less stormy. 

He continued, "My latest Eyes Only informant, the woman you saw at my place, is a little reluctant to come forward, but I think I could change her mind if the protection of a government-issued chimera was part of the deal." 

"And why should I help you?" Max queried between the hint of fangs, "I don't even know who you are and you seem to know my life story." 

"Logan. Cale. And you should help me because otherwise, *I'm* gonna have to be the one to smuggle her out of the city and probably land a couple of bullets in my vital organs for my trouble." 

"Not seeing the bad, Mr Cale." Max countered and started pushing Logan out the door. 

"I can help you." 

Max let out a bark of laughter, half at the desperation in his voice, half at his incredulous statement, "Really?" 

"Really. You were part of the dozen or so kids that escaped Manticore ten years ago, right? I can help you find the others." 

"Sorry," Max gave back shortly, renewing her offensive of clearing him out of her apartment, "that position's already been filled." 

It was Logan's turn to laugh, "What, by that hack private investigator working out of a Laundromat? How long do you think it'll take the guys at Manticore to find the information trail he's left behind?" 

"And what makes you think that me doing this job for you will attract any less of their attention?" Max shouted back, "I start pulling stunts and Manticore starts pulling guns." 

"Who are you kidding, Max?" Logan returned evenly. She bristled at the use of her name, but was by no means surprised. "You eat, you breathe, you sleep and Manticore is breathing down your neck. You were bred to pull stunts. What better way to bite the hand that fed you than by showing them you have a mind of your own? By using their own weapon against them? You have the chance to do real good here and to work out your past at the same time." 

Max turned to the window, unable to face him. She knew he was right. 

"Give me some time to think about it." 

"Alright. But we're leaving tonight at ten. You don't show before then, and I'll know your answer." 

Logan left the apartment, brushing by an early Kendra. 

"Max?" She implored the figure standing by the window, "Who was that?" 

"Thief." Max replied, pulling her arms around herself, "As common as they come." 

**END PART 1/4   
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	2. Bulletproof

c o m m o n . t h i e f . . . by bulletproof

**c o m m o n . t h i e f**   
part 2 

"Five minutes late and they start the party without me." 

Max bit down hard and threw herself into the melee of flying fists and wayward bullets. She grumbled under her breath for about the fifth time that night that she hoped she wasn't about to get herself caught, killed or turned into a science experiment, and took out one of the guns shooting at Mr Eyes Only himself. 

Logan looked up with a bemused smile and his eyes belied his words, "You're late." 

Max shrugged before throwing another fist into another face, "A girl's gotta look presentable." 

No, the seizure she'd had ten minutes before leaving the apartment hadn't helped her punctuality at all. 

From the corner of her eye, she saw Peter toss Lauren into the relative safety of the car, only to see Sophy being wrenched out of her mother's grasp. 

Before she could act on that, the telltale red spot of a laser sighting lit on Logan's lower back. 

With a shout, Max pushed him out of the way, taking the bullet in her side instead. 

Logan swore as he hit the ground and quickly surveyed the scenario. Odds were rapidly falling out of their favour and they had to act fast before any of them got killed. 

Taking Max gingerly into his arms, he placed her across the backseat of the car before climbing in himself. 

"The kid," she protested, struggling in his arms as she reached for the door handle. 

Logan shook his head as the car started racing down the street, "We go back now and we won't be alive to get her back later. We regroup, get you patched up in the safe house outta town and *then* we'll see about taking out the bastards who've taken Sophy hostage." 

Logan gently brushed Max's dark curls away from her heated brow before turning to take Lauren's shaking hand. 

"We'll get her back, Lauren, I swear." 

* * * * * 

"Wanna hold my hand?" 

Logan Cale almost laughed at Max's expected response. She glared at his offerred hand, but yelped again as Peter tried to apply medical attention to her shot wound. 

"Do you *actually* know what you're doing?!" 

Logan knelt so he was face to face with Max lying on the kitchen table in the safe house serving as a make-shift surgical bench. 

"Max, just shut up and bear it." 

Without further pretence his mouth swooped down to hers, catching her mid-gasp. Peter took advantage of the opportunity and was finally able to get the bullet out of her side without a single protest from Max. 

Logan finally relinquished his hold on her mouth and released Max from their kiss breathing hard. 

"See?" he pointed out, grin smug on his face, "Wasn't so hard." 

Max caught the sight of Peter dropping the bullet from his surgical pliers into a metal bowl before snapping off his latex gloves from the edge of her vision. She made an effort to catch her breath before replying to Logan evenly, "Thanks for the distraction." 

He stood and shrugged, tossing Max her leather jacket, "It was the least I could do. You took a bullet for me." 

Max shied away from his intense gaze and hopped off the table, running a nervous hand through her unruly hair. 

"So when are we getting back to town? I got an itching to kick some serious gun-toting ass." She declared, gingerly touching the bandaging on the right side of her back. 

"You're not going anywhere." Logan said, backing her into the couch and planting a firm hand on her shoulder to get her to sit down. "Not after the bullet wound and not after you got the shakes in the car. I'm not getting you killed on my account." 

"But Logan, I always get-" 

"Not hearing it. You're staying put and that's that." 

Peter, hovering by the door, raised a brow and then started worrying. If *Max* wasn't going to Sonrisa's... 

"Peter," Logan called, as if sensing the man's thoughts, "you'll make sure Max and Lauren stay safely in the house, won't you?" 

"Of course." 

"Good, cos I got a party to crash." Logan headed outside to the car, turning at the doorway, "Don't wait up." 

**END PART 2/4   
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	3. Workin' It

c o m m o n . t h i e f . . . by bulletproof

**c o m m o n . t h i e f**   
part 3   
_AN: In Australia, we're only up to BBWW, so any information gleaned from laters eps about Logan's parents, I haven't seen._

Logan adjusted his bow tie and the lapels of his jacket once more as he tried as best he could to saunter through the crowd. Comfortable was not something you got around the people you were trying to bring down. 

All around him were the tuxedoed men he had down for at least three counts against their cases each and amongst them, the beautiful women, all in skin-tight clothing and over-the-top make-up, trying to tempt them into something more. 

Logan kept his scowl in check and tried to stop from thinking how much more he'd like to be in a small house fifty miles out of town and kept his mind on the job at hand. 

Save Sophy. Right. Blend in with the rest of them. Right. 

He feigned interest in passing conversations and even the girls nearby, until his gaze fell on a goddess in a silly excuse for a red dress. He reached out, trailing a hand down her forearm to entice her into one of the more secluded corners. 

She followed and he grazed his lips on her earlobe, tracing the barest touch down her slender, feminine shoulders. 

"What are you doing here?" He whispered urgently, his breath tickling her senses. 

"Finishing the job." Max answered in kind, reaching up to him with her entire length, before throwing four lightning-fast glances over her shoulders, "You didn't really think you could get out of here alive *alone*, did you?" 

Logan rolled his eyes, "Thanks for the vote of confidence." 

Max grinned mischievously in response, "Anytime." 

* * * * * 

Edgar Sonrisa's gaze delighted at the full house in his hands before taking a quick visual sweep over the surveillance monitors. 

"Is that... Bradley Cale's son?" 

His companions all twisted in their seats at the poker table to the face that filled the screens overhead. 

"Bruno, inform Mr Cale and his... lovely companion that we'd like an audience with him." 

* * * * * 

"Mr Sonrisa. It's been a while." 

"Please, Logan. You always used to call me Uncle Eddy, I don't see why that should change now." 

Max's grasp on Logan's hand tightened at the divulging of that piece of information. Uncle Eddy? 

Logan's jaw tightened slightly at the pressure but he ploughed on nonetheless, "I came to you with a business proposition." 

"Oh, not now, Logan. Tonight's a night for play, not work, and I trust you're enjoying the... festivities." 

"Greatly." Logan assured, attacking Max's mouth with a searing kiss. Her mind rebelled but her heart was racing as she returned the kiss fiercely. 

Logan tore his head away, reminding himself of the company they kept, "But I'm afraid my business partner *Lauren* cannot wait another moment to have this matter settled with you." 

Sonrisa's nostrils flared and eyes lowered to slits at the name and he pushed his chair back from the table, "If you'll excuse us, gentlemen." 

Edgar stalked out the door and Bruno escorted Logan and Max down the hallway to what was presumably Sonrisa's private office. 

His guests seated, Sonrisa stormed behind his desk and placed two thick hands on its edge. 

"What do you know of this, you little brat?" 

"Temper, temper, Uncle Eddy. No one gets through life without a little patience." Logan chided, taking in Sonrisa's flustered appearance with a hint of amusement, "Now sit down and we'll discuss this calmly like gentlemen. I know where Lauren Braganza is, I have her trust, and I'm willing to give her to you." 

Edgar's demeanour visibly changed at the revelation and he did indeed seat himself calmly, "And what do you get out of it?" 

"A slice of the action. I want to pick up where my father so abruptly left off." 

Sonrisa snorted in response, "Your father nearly cost me the entire game ten years ago." 

"My father was a fool." Logan interjected quickly, "A coward. He didn't have the balls to play with the big guns. I do. And I'm willing to give you Lauren to prove it." 

The offer ticking over in his brain, Sonrisa studied Logan's face intensely trying to find any hints of emotion. Coming up bare, he resorted to analysing the offer alone. He couldn't lose. Lauren would be handed over to him on a silver platter and he had absolutely no obligation to fulfil on Logan's half. Or at least, any that he had any intention of honoring. 

"Fine," Edgar nodded, "but how does this work? She won't exactly surrender herself to me just because you tell her to." 

"No, but if you cast the right bait, say, her daughter, she might be a little more complacent." 

"I'll set it up." 

* * * * * 

"Just *what* do you think you're doing?" Max cornered Logan in the hallway, angry and in his face, "I didn't sign up to help the cause of Money-Grubbing-Capitalists-'R'-" 

Logan silenced her with another hot, bruising kiss as one of the said capitalists came walking down the hallway. 

He let her up for a much-needed gulp of air as soon as the coast was clear. 

"And don't think you can keep doing that eith-" 

His mouth swiftly descended on hers again to stop the flow of words. 

"Max. *Shut*. *Up*." Logan seethed in hushed tones. "Here is not exactly the place to berate me for my double-crossing ways." 

She huffed, displacing herself from his arms and marched down the hall with Logan hot on her heels. 

* * * * * 

Logan seated Lauren in his penthouse lounge with a cup of calming Camomile tea. The woman looked understandably shaken. 

"I think Sonrisa trusts me enough to keep security down to a minimum when he brings Sophy to us. Max can take care of his men and we can get you and Sophy the hell outta here." 

"Sounds good." Lauren nodded, hands tightening around her cup. 

"Max?" 

"Yeah," she grumbled, reluctantly accepting the plan before slipping out of the room. 

Logan followed, excusing himself from Lauren, and found Max skulking off in the corner of his computer room. 

"Listen... sorry... about accusing you of being a two-faced capitalist pig." 

Logan shrugged, "S'ok. Sorry about kissing you." 

"I'm not." She mumbled to herself. 

"Hmm?" 

"Nothing." She quickly covered, approaching the light once more, "So, when do we set out?" 

"Eleven. We're meeting Sonrisa's men near the old town center." 

* * * * * 

Bruno stood in front of the big, black, predatory car with his hand son Sophy's frail little shoulders and two men flanking each side. 

Logan pulled up on the other side of the road, and warily eyed the hired muscle. 

He turned to Max and set the challenge with a cocked brow, "You up for a five course meal?" 

Her lips twitched upwards in answer, "It's been done before." 

The four of them faced off with the five men that held Sophy captive. 

"Hand her over." Bruno shouted through the crisp night air. 

"Give us the girl," Logan countered as was arranged with Sonrisa previously. The plan was apparently to give Lauren a show before letting his men take her away. Little did they know about Max, Logan's wild card. 

"Count of three." Bruno offered. 

Lauren stole a furtive glance at Logan and whispered harshly, "Take care of my baby." 

"One." 

Logan loosened his grip on Lauren's arm. 

"Two." 

The second that Bruno let go of Sophy in turn, Max was in his face, pushing the girl into Peter's waiting arms. 

"Three." She finished before head-butting Bruno and letting an elbow fly into the face of one of his men. 

"Go!" Logan shouted as he slammed the door shut behind Lauren and Sophy. He watched the car peal away before turning his attention back to Max's struggle. Amazingly, she had already knocked out three of her five opponents. 

Logan jumped into the fray, punching down one of Max's would-be assailants only to find her in Bruno's grasp, her neck in a chokehold. 

Panicked, Logan grabbed the nearest hard object, the thick lid of one of the garbage cans lining the street, and knocked Bruno unconscious with his makeshift weapon. 

Bruno dropped his hold and Logan moved quickly to catch Max before she fell to the floor. She clutched at his shoulder with one hand as her other one rubbed the feeling back into her neck. 

She choked to regain her breath before slowly gazing up into his worried eyes. 

"You saved my life." 

Logan's mouth quirked into a casual grin, "You woulda done the same." 

Max returned the smile playfully, "Don't be so sure." 

Behind Logan's back, Max could hear the all too familiar sound of a gun being cocked and quickly pushed the both of them to the ground as a bullet flew harmlessly overhead. 

"Point proven." Logan smirked from under her before she pushed herself up to disarm their attacker and leave him out cold alongside Bruno and his companions on the floor. 

**END PART 3/4   
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	4. Returning the Favour

c o m m o n . t h i e f . . . by bulletproof

**c o m m o n . t h i e f**   
part 4   
_AN: transcript found from darkangeltv.com_

"47 people paying $20,000 each to be smuggled into Canada so they could earn enough money to eat...are dead. They were marched overboard last night by their ruthless handlers who operate with the knowledge, support and active collaboration of government officials only too happy to look the other way for a piece of the action." 

Max sauntered into Logan's computer room, drops of rain still cascading down her leather catsuit, making it cling to her sodden skin. 

For the first time in broadcasting history, Eyes Only faltered. 

"Th-this must never happen again." 

Logan nearly choked as her flow of liquid movements brought her closer and closer, hips swaying from side to tantalising side. 

"Those... responsible are on notice. Their power and privilege will not protect them. They will be held accountable. This has been a streaming freedom video bulletin...via the Eyes Only informant net. Peace...out." 

Stream over, Logan detached the headset but didn't dare leave the safety of his seat. Max looked about ready to pounce. 

He swallowed, "So Sonrisa's outta the game. His wife, the one with the real money, happened to find a tape of his more... extra-marital activities. Lauren's safe in her own house and the world..." 

He trailed off as the dark beauty stalked forward, leaning in with both hands supporting her on the arms of his chair. His mouth was a breath away from hers. 

"I think you're done talking now." 

Logan nodded wordlessly, his eyes doing the talking as they trailed down every one of her voluptuous curves. Her cheshire grin smouldered. 

"See anything you like?" 

Logan's eyes darkened at the invitation and his voice rumbled in the response he barely found air for, "Maybe." 

Her smile grew into a leer at his positive turn, replying in a husky whisper that pinned him to his seat, "Cos you said you could help me if I helped you." 

"Which you've done. Very. Thoroughly." Logan returned, a reminder, a promise. 

"Good. Cos I have a problem." She licked her lips, closing in on her prey, closing the distance between them. 

"Hope I can help." He offered earnestly. 

"Oh, I'm sure you can." Max assured him, straddling his lap, "How much do you know about my feline DNA?" 

**END PART 4/4   
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